Showing posts with label Earth Science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Earth Science. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Superheroes to the rescue!

Do you ever feel as if you need rescuing?  I have definitely been challenged this year and decided that I need to let go of some of the pressure I put on myself.  Can I get an AMEN?!
I TEACH WHAT'S YOUR SUPERPOWER ?
With that being said I am so appreciative of all the teachers that put their stuff out there to be shared.  The ideas that have come into my field of vision over the last few years has been transformative.  Just when I'm in need, someone comes to the rescue with a brilliant idea that I didn't have to labor over.  Thanks to all of you that work harder than you need to and share the love with all of us!!
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I apologize in advance...this post is long overdue and just plain long!  Here are the links in advance:
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We have been VERY busy since we got back from break.  Aren't we always busy though?  In math we are working on place value of tens and ones.  Below are a couple anchor charts.




Below are some pictures from activities and centers we have done.  You can get them all here ----->  Place Values: Tens and Ones

This is a place value mat that you spin the tens and ones, write the digit and build it.  At the bottom the students create greater than, less than sentences.

This is place value pick up sticks.  It is played just like pick up sticks.  At the end they count their tens and ones and find their digit.  The player with the greatest digit wins.

In this Superhero game, students pull a digit, build it, then find ten less and ten more.

These are the ten rods we made with pipe cleaners and beads that the students will use to when building digits.

This is a teacher copy of decomposing a digit.


Here are some of the activities: Place Values: Tens and Ones

This idea is from Mrs. T's First Grade Class....she is AH-MAZ-ING!


 


In science, we have moved on to gravity and it has been so much FUN!  Go to the link below to pick up my lesson plans and two experiments.





 We used one of the experiments for our class Science Project.






The last thing I have tonight is my new Superhero Behavior Chart!  Some years I just can't find what will work for my little firsties.  This year we have tried so many things.  This is my attempt on finding something that works.  At the beginning of the year I had a similar chart but my kids weren't invested in it.  So I took it away and the students did self reflections each day to decide how their day was going or went.  This worked for some but definitely not all.

So on to this.  I did some Pinteresting this weekend and decided that they may be more invested with more incentives.  Incentives are not my goal but some years you just gotta do it!  When students make it to pink they will go on the Hall of Fame and get a bead to put on their new DOG TAG!  My dog tags aren't in yet so I'm improvising with beads until my package arrives.  As students earn more beads they can earn new dog tags.  I bought some more dog tags from Miss Nelson.  Since my mean time beads can't hold beads I bought bracelets to hold us over.  You will also notice little folders with smaller charts.  Those are for students that need the extra reminder!

You can get your chart here ----> SUPERHERO Behavior



Our new chart!

Hall of Fame for students that get on pink.

Cute little dog tags you get the first time you get on pink.

Our beads until the dog tags come in.

Bracelets for the beads.

Personal behavior charts in folders for students that need it. 


In other news here is a picture of my new haircut.  I'm in love with it!
I hope you are enjoying your time back with your kiddos!



Sunday, December 8, 2013

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

This year things are a little different for me and it has taken me a while to get in the spirit BUT I'm finally there!  Last night my step-mom and I decorated and listened to Christmas songs...it was just what I needed.

So I woke up this morning and decided to bring the Christmas cheer to school.
Here is a pack with 5 word activities.  Some are vocabulary development and the rest are word work. Click on the link or pictures to download yours for free.


For the past two weeks, our first grade team has digging deep into Land and Water.  Here's what's been going on:
We started with natural resources and man made materials.  We took our clip boards and went on a hunt around the school.

The kids sorted the resources in their journals.  The sort is from Michele Olson.

Then we started to investigate where we can find natural resources on Earth.

The students drew examples of each in their notebooks.

Then we observed soil and determined what kind it was and what we could do with it.



Then we observed rocks and went on a hunt.  We used Primary Graffiti's Interactive Notebook for Earth Science to help use describe rocks and soil.

For some reason I can't get this picture the right way!  For water, we did a Frayer Model.

To show their understanding of land and water the students sorted pictures in their journals.  Again this from Primary Graffiti's Interactive Notebook for Earth Science which I absolutely love.


While I was out the students and substitute figured out how we use these resources.

 At the end of this week we started getting into fast and slow changes.

Next week we are looking deeper into the changes on Earth.  It's been so fun!

I hope you are starting to enjoy the holiday season as well!
















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